ETHANOL NEWS
E-85 Vehicles - A Natural Progression

In the pursuit of fuels and vehicles which are produced in an environmentally sustainable manner, provide benefits for the environment, and can meet the tough criteria set out by consumers, retailers and vehicle manufacturers, ethanol is moving up the ladder. In June, 1998 the number of retailers selling ethanol-blended fuels in Canada was approximately 950, excluding fuel distributors not listed with the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.

The decision by Sunoco Inc. to enter the ethanol arena by retailing ethanol-enhanced fuels at the company’s 275 outlets in Ontario was a major milestone in the development of the Canadian market. But ethanol is only five- to 10-per cent of a litre of fuel, and while providing significant benefits for the environment, efforts are being made to move one step further, to fully-fuelled ethanol vehicles.

Ethanol powered vehicles – commonly known as fully-fuelled or flex-fuelled – are cars and light trucks that can utilize straight gasoline or up to an 85 per cent ethanol blend. The vehicles are manufactured to specifications which take advantage of ethanol’s richer oxygenate and octane properties and address some of the difficulties of using ethanol in present combustion engines when used at high-level blends.

In the U.S., government, retailers and automobile manufacturers have taken up the challenge of E-85 cars and light trucks. In 1998, 50 retail outlets in 15 states, mainly in the mid-west, offer E-85 fuel for flex-fuel vehicles. By the turn of the century that number is expected to grow to 180 retail distributors.

Flex-fuel is the key. Consumers can make the choice of fuel on the basis of availability, but the chicken and the egg scenario has been broken. This scenario suggests without the retail outlets there is little point in making the vehicles to use the fuel. Without the vehicles it is too costly to establish an E-85 retail outlet. With the ability of flex-fuel vehicles to use straight gasoline or up to an 85 per cent ethanol blend, the industry can develop at a steady pace. Of the 150,000 flex-fueled vehicles in the U.S., only 50 per cent use E-85 due to fuel availability.

Automobile manufacturers have turned to ethanol and flex-fuelled vehicles as a solution to growing concerns over air quality and greenhouse gas issues. The pricing is comparable to conventional gasoline-powered vehicles and some vehicles are available only on a pre-order basis.

•Chrysler Corporation will be producing an E-85 flexible – fuel minivan this year, primarily for fleet customers. This is in addition to the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country.
• In 1996, Ford Motor Company manufactured 6,000 E-85 Tauruses climbing to 12,000 in 1997, and the company is working towards a flexible-fuelled Ranger next year. Ford’s four-year plan is to produce 250,000 flex-fuelled vehicles.
• General Motors has moved onto the scene with the production of 100,000 S-10 and Sonoma light-duty trucks.

The adoption of ethanol as a viable alternate fuel choice is growing around the world. Brazil has been using ethanol in 20 per cent blends, or higher, for over a decade. Last year Germany opened its first E-85 outlet, and Sweden is advanced in the development of the ethanol option.

In Canada the thrust is coming from the Government of Canada and the ethanol industry. The first E-85 outlet is being established at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa to service federal government vehicles from a number of departments. The ethanol industry is examining consumer-based outlets for the future, but auto manufacturers must provide stock for sale at Canadian locations to ensure demand.

For Canadians, ethanol in low-level blends will continue to be the main offering in the short and medium terms. But with the long-term objective of addressing crucial air quality and environmental issues – such as smog and greenhouse gas emissions – and octane and oxygenate requirements for fuel producers, vehicles that can operate, primarily, on renewable ethanol are a viable political and practical solution.